Haunted Memories
by Sakrea
Summary: Thor gets lost in his own memories and Heimdall is there to help him think it through. Thor and Loki brotherly stuff. Movieverse.


This didn't turn out quite as good as I'd hoped emotion-wise.

Mainly for this though, I wanted some interaction with Heimdall because I thought he was just a cool character. XD

Hope you enjoy it!

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><p><em>Silver clashed against gold, laughter echoed around him. It taunted him, reminding him of what he had been too weak to prevent, of what he had been too blind to see. Light flashed, colors swirled. The battle raged around him as if he wasn't there. He fought, but it was not truly him. <em>

_ The rest of the fight flew by in a blur, only bits and pieces appearing coherent to him. The strikes and parries were meaningless. It was those final words that mattered._

"_I could've done it father!" he shouted. "I could've done it! For you! For all of us!"_

"_No, Loki." _

_Pale fingers wrapped around gold. The swirling blackness beyond him seemed to call, hungering for precious flesh._

"_LOKI, NO!" _

_He watched those pale fingers slacken, the gold slipping past. Those green eyes, flecked with red stared back into his, telling him that it was too late for words._

"_NO!"_

_The green garbed body fell. Down, down, down into the blackness until nothing remained…_

Thor shook his head, trying to relieve himself of the images that haunted him. It didn't work. His mind's eye was filled with nothing but those familiar green eyes, scored with red.

"I suppose I'm asking for it." The prince grunted. "I could hardly expect to think of anything else when I come here."

"Hmph."

Thor turned his head up to look at his present company. The loyal guardian didn't twitch.

"Is there something you wish to add, Heimdall?" Thor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My prince, you have come here quite often since that event only to sit on the edge of bridge where the Bifrost once resided." Heimdall said, his eyes focused outward into the empty space. "Until this day, you have not said a word."

As always, the guardian's words seemed to leave a number of unaddressed question lingering in the air. Thor remained still, watching him as if he might actually answer one of them. "Is there a point you are trying to make?" he asked finally.

For just a moment, Heimdall's eyes flickered down to meet the prince's. "Lost in your thoughts, I can only assume you were searching for something you had not been able to see previously." He said. "Perhaps you have found it."

That all knowing tone of his struck something inside Thor and he frowned. _Had _he been looking for something? Had he found it? What was it? It seemed to him he had merely been running over the memories in guilt. No… Not guilt. He knew he was not responsible for what had happened, he had not intended this. It was more like… worry that plagued him.

"Heimdall?"

"Yes, my prince?"

"You are infuriating."

"I have been called far worse." The guardian replied, a smile darting across his lips. "Now, is there something else you wanted to ask me?"

Thor turned his head, narrowing his eyes out into the starry blackness in front of him. His fingers drummed against the shattered edge of the rainbow bridge.

"Can you see him?" he asked finally.

"No." Heimdall replied. "He remains hidden from me."

"I understand." Thor sighed, standing from his place on the bridge's edge. His eyes searched the darkness, as if hoping to see that familiar figure rise up from its murky depths…

"You need not worry for his health." Heimdall said after a moment. "If he is strong enough to shield himself from my eyes, then he is unharmed."

Casting his eyes toward the guardian, Thor gave him a nod. "You're right, thank you." He said, clasping a golden clad shoulder in a firm squeeze.

Heimdall only inclined his head slightly in way of acknowledgement, ever focused on his task of protecting Asgard.

Knowing that would be his only real response, Thor released his hand and turned. He had dwelled enough in his own misery laden thoughts for one day.

He took a mere two steps forward when he paused once more, feeling like a fool. Heimdall was not some nursemaid there to comfort him, but his own worrisome thoughts forced him to treat him as such by releasing his childish questions upon him.

"Do you think I'll see him again?" Thor asked quietly without turning.

"Yes." Heimdall replied.

The two men stood in silence for a few moments, each facing outward, away from the other.

Thor's fingers twitched anxiously at his sides. "Will he ever look at me as a brother again?"

For the first time, Heimdall was quiet. Perhaps he was merely thinking, or perhaps, with all his power, he was searching the future for answers. It didn't matter though, his silence made the eldest prince uneasy.

"Our lives stretch on for great spans." The guardian finally said. "In time, perhaps, he will be able to let go of that which troubles him. Only then, will he be able to truly face you as a Son of Odin."

At his sides, Thor's fists clenched. He would wait. He would wait for as long as he needed to for his brother to return to him and he would do all he could in order to lead him back down the right path.

"I understand…" he said softly. "Thank you, Heimdall."

This time, when Thor stepped forward, he did not stop. He strode back toward Asgard, his heart no lighter than when he had come, but glimmering with a hint of hope.

In his mind's eye, he saw only familiar green eyes, twinkling with laughter that he yearned to hear again someday.


End file.
